India slams UN’s Kashmir report, says it legitimises terrorism

It should be a matter of deep concern for the Council that this report undermines the UN-led consensus on terrorism and in fact, legitimises terrorism, said India.

India on Tuesday called upon UN to reject efforts by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to legitimise terrorism and call for India's dismemberment through the recent report on Kashmir in defiance of very definition of terror outlined by the global body.

"It should be a matter of deep concern for the Council that this report undermines the UN-led consensus on terrorism and in fact, legitimises terrorism by referring to the UN designated terrorist entities as “armed groups” and calling terrorists “leaders”. Surely, the Council cannot be oblivious of this attempt to legitimise terrorism, which remains the pernicious violator of all fundamental rights," Rajiv K. Chander, Permanent Representative of India in UN (Geneva) emphasised in a statement on Tuesday.

This was India's first reaction at UN following last week's report on Kashmir human rights situation.

"We are dismayed at the High Commissioner’s reference to a fallacious and motivated report that has already been rejected by India. This selective compilation of largely unverified information, aimed at promoting a false narrative, distorts the truth," Chander noted.

"...the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in forcible and illegal occupation of a part of the Indian state. We condemn all references in this report which seek dismemberment of India," Chander said in reference to report on "self determination" in Kashmir. Experts familiar with the iissue told ET that suggestion in the report on "self-determination" in Kashmir is akin to suggesting dismemberment of a UN member by an UN official.

"Our governments, elected through free and fair elections, are sworn to protecting the Constitution that is the bedrock of all our freedoms. It is the cross border terrorism that seeks to muzzle the voices of our people. The last week's gruesome assassination of a senior journalist and his security officers, silencing a voice of moderation, and abduction and brutal killing of a soldier while on his way home for Eid in Jammu and Kashmir, are its chilling reminders.

"We, therefore, urge the Council to -- reject all efforts to legitimise terrorism, subvert UN led consensus on terrorism, and undermine the credibility of this august Council, and unequivocally condemn terrorism and its perpetrators; and reject the report," Chander said in his appeal to UN human rights council.